Maximiliam Bern (November 11, 1849 – September 10, 1923) was a German writer and editor. He was born in Kherson,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

, where his father was a physician. Upon his father's death, his mother took him to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to further his education. From 1869 to 1872 he studied philosophy and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

there, but had to drop out of school when the family fortune was lost. In 1873 he became a private tutor at an equestrian school. The success of his first novel '' Auf Schwankem Grunde'', allowed him to become a

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

and travel extensively. From 1885-1887 he was in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

and in the following year married an Austrian actress, Olga Wohlbrück. In 1888, they settled in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

,The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906 edition
/ref> where he continued to write prolifically. After spending his entire life savings (100,000 marks) on a single subway ticket around Old Berlin during the devastating period of

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

in Germany, he returned to his apartment where, unable to support himself, he starved to death.''Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s'' (pg.126), by Otto Friedrich, Harper-Row None of his works have been translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

References

1849 births 1923 deaths Writers from Vienna German male writers German editors {{Germany-writer-stub